Beyond Talk: Creating Autonomous Motivation …

1 Beyond Talk: Creating Autonomous Motivation through self - determination Theory By Dan N. Stone*, Edward L. Deci**, and Richard M. Ryan** Please send correspondence to: Dan N. Stone University of Kentucky Von Allmen School of Accountancy 355F Gatton Business and Economics Building Lexington, KY 40506 859-257-3043 (phone), Last printed: November 24, 2008 Thanks to Cam Cockrell (University of North Texas), Tim Miller (University of Kentucky), and Tim Mitchell (Georgia State University) for comments on earlier drafts. The first author gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Gatton College of Business, the Von Allmen School of Accountancy and the University of Kentucky. * Gatton Endowed Chair, Gatton College of Business, University of Kentucky ** Gowen Professor in the Social Sciences, University of Rochester ** Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Education, University of Rochester Abstract Many managers and academics have a passing familiarity with self - determination theory (SDT), which articulates the core principles that underlie sustainable Motivation in organizations.

2 But far fewer understand how to successfully implement a SDT intervention in the face of organizational pressure for short-term accountability and performance. We present the core principles of SDT, describe the principles that underlie successful SDT-based interventions, propose six steps ( , actions) that facilitate the creation of Autonomous Motivation , articulate the obstacles to successful implementation, and present examples of successful organizational implementations. 1. Introduction Who hasn t heard, and perhaps even chanted, the now-familiar motivational mantra? Motivation comes from the self , not from a desire for money. Managers should empower employees, foster decision participation, and support self -initiation and autonomy.

3 Many managers and academics now recite this mantra; some even say that it is old news. Curiously though, when visiting organizations and observing in University classrooms, we find managers and academics who chant the mantra but fail to practice it when leading and teaching. This makes us think of a joke from Woody Allen s movie, Annie Hall (Internet Movie Database, Inc. 2007). In the movie, Woody Allen s character tells of a man who goes to the psychiatrist. Doc, he says, you must help me. My brother thinks he s a chicken. Bring him in, replies the doctor. I ll convince him he s not a chicken. No, the man exclaims, we need the eggs! Managers, too, act like they need the eggs . So they apply over-learned carrot-and-stick motivational strategies despite the fact that promoting autonomy actually yields more eggs ( , Motivation ).

4 Walking the unconventional Autonomous motivational walk often requires questioning organizational assumptions, making tough, sometimes unpopular, choices, and, taking risks. To avoid these risks, managers and teachers too often take the easy way talking the politically correct talk but walking the over-learned walk. In the Mann-Gulch fire, twenty-seven firefighters died because they would not drop their tools; because of the rapid spread of the fire, the firefighters normally sensible instincts to retain their, now useless, firefighting tools contributed to their fiery Page 2 deaths (Weick 1993, 1996). Unfortunately, we observe many managers and academics who doggedly cling to the now discredited tools of command-and-control methods; these methods ensure the death of employees Motivation and pro-active engagement in work just as surely as the Mann-Gulch firefighters stubborn retention of their tools contributed to their untimely deaths.

5 Over the past 30 years, two of the authors, Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan, have developed a theory of human Motivation , called self - determination theory (SDT), that identifies the core principles underlying sustainable Motivation ( , see Deci and Ryan 1985, 2007; Ryan and Deci 2000). Extensive, well-crafted research has explored its relevance to many domains, including business, education, sports, medicine, entertainment, and leadership. The intuitive appeal and strong evidential support for SDT have made it popular for many managers, teachers, and scholars to espouse its core principles; but practicing these principles is not easy. In this paper, we unravel a curious hypocrisy in the way managers often talk about, versus practice, motivating.

6 We articulate the core psychological principles of SDT, describe six actions for applying SDT in organizations, discuss common impediments and obstacles to SDT-based interventions, and conclude with two cases of SDT-based successes. 2. self - determination Theory and the Psychological Basis of Empowerment and Sustainable Motivation Organizational competition for top talent has intensified because of a shrinking working-age population and because companies increasingly realize that much of their sustainable value resides in their employees heads. One common company response to this competition for talent is to complicate existing compensation and reward Page 3 schemes, seeking a tighter match of rewards to productivity in order to attract high skill employees.

7 However, these programs often generate mistrust and fuel the cynical belief that management s real Motivation is cutting costs rather than rewarding performance. Restructuring compensation and reward programs for an organization s critical workforce can pay off, but many restructurings fail because they are not based in the core principles of Autonomous , sustainable Motivation . We next use SDT to describe the core principles underlying sustainable organizational Motivation . a. self - determination Theory (SDT): An Introduction (or Review) self - determination theory is rooted in a set of assumptions about human nature and Motivation (Ryan and Deci 2000). Humans are inherently motivated to grow and achieve and will fully commit to and engage in even uninteresting tasks when their meaning and value is understood.

8 Of course, some employees appear passive and unmotivated -- but this is learned; it results from past and perhaps even current work conditions undermining inherent Motivation (cf. Amabile, Conti, Coon, Lazenby, and Herron 1996). SDT s assumptions differ from those found in operant conditioning (Skinner, 1953) where behavior is assumed to be controlled mostly by external reward contingencies. Carrot and stick (CAST) approaches to Motivation , such as those found in operant conditioning, lead to a heightened focus on the tangible rewards of work rather than on the nature and importance of the work itself. Such approaches can create short-term productivity increases by controlling people s behavior, but the resulting Motivation is of poor quality it is unsustainable and can create other negative consequences.

9 For example, even advocates ( , Baker, Jensen, and Murphy 1988) Page 4 caution that CAST approaches can work too well by encouraging fraud, cheating, and deception. Further, emphasizing tangible rewards tends to undermine intrinsic interest in work (Amabile, 1993; Deci, Koestner and Ryan, 1999). SDT focuses on, and nurtures an interest in, the intrinsic importance of work. This approach has been shown to link to better performance, especially in the complex, creative, and heuristic tasks (McGraw, 1978) that increasingly characterize modern work. According to SDT, humans have three core psychological needs: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Competence is the belief that one has the ability to influence important outcomes. Relatedness is the experience of having satisfying and supportive social relationships.

10 Autonomy concerns the experience of acting with a sense of choice, volition, and self - determination . It does not refer to independence, for people may well be dependent on others while acting autonomously. When acting from intrinsic Motivation in a task, people s experience is of having a choice and fully endorsing what they are doing; they do not feel controlled or compelled by forces outside themselves or even by controlling internal forces that demand and coerce. Satisfying human needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy creates sustainable ( , enduring) Motivation (see Figure 1). In the theory, sustainable Motivation is called Autonomous because it emerges from one s sense of self and is accompanied by feelings of willingness and engagement.